Office of Educational Technology
July 2016 OET Newsletter
Leslie Fisher Selected as Keynote for UDETC
Leslie Fisher, a nationally-known leader in educational technology, will be the keynote presenter for our fourth University of Delaware Educational Technology Conference (UDETC) on Saturday, March 4, 2017. With a dash of humor, Leslie, director of Fisher Technologies, Inc., has helped educators with technology implementations and decisions since 1997.
The Office of Educational Technology, the Education Resource Center, and The College School host the conference, geared toward PreK-20 educators. To register to present or attend, visit the conference website. Registration is free for presenters.
WordPress Users Group
Save the date! Our next WordPress Users Group is set for Tuesday, September 27, from 12-1 p.m., in when we will delve into Google Analytics. Google Analytics, used on most OET-hosted WordPress sites, analyzes visitor traffic to your site and empowers you to build and engage your audience. If you want to know how long visitors stay on a page, how they are referred to your website, what terms they search for, and more, plan to attend this informative session tentatively scheduled in 205 WHL.
Week of Code
You may soon see some new Android apps for sale thanks to our Week of Code. Last week, 32 5th-8th grade students programmed feverishly to create apps during our first Week of Code camp, designed to give students a more in-depth programming experience. Students used Processing, a cross-platform, Java-based language, to produce snow-boarding adventures, Pong-style games, a music creation app, and a number guessing app, among many others. Instructors for the camp were our own Joe Naccarato and Sarah Woodward, computer science teacher at Newark High School. In addition to app creation, students used Processing to interact with real-world items such as Finch robots.
Keep Calm and Teach On
The first day of classes is August 30, and for many instructors, it’s time to make last minute changes to course materials and to learn new technologies. With much to do in August, IT reminds instructors to Keep Calm and Teach On by offering over 40 instructional sessions to help instructors prepare for the semester. Open to any UD instructor, sessions include Canvas or Sakai: What You Need to Know; Google Drive & Office 365 for Student Collaboration; and How to Use the Technology in Your Classroom. A complete list of sessions is available on the Faculty Commons website, where you also can register.